Whether a College Degree Should Be Mandatory for Police Recruits

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Arguments Supporting Mandatory College Education for Police Recruits
Arguments Against Mandatory College Education for Police Recruits
Position
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Being well-educated and holding a college credential enhances an individual’s chances for better career development and creates new opportunities for personal growth. Education helps people feel, think, and behave in a way that contributes to their success in life. Thus, individuals with higher education qualifications are more likely to make the right decisions and develop better ethical and moral principles than uneducated persons. Despite the significance of higher education, mandatory college degree for law enforcement personnel has long been contested. While most police departments have traditionally required a high school diploma for job entry positions, a study indicates a positive correlation between higher education qualifications and better work performance for recruits (Edwards, 2019). Following the recent deaths of unarmed men at the hands of law enforcement, combined with calls for police reforms, there has been a nationwide debate about increasing education requirements for law enforcers. While police offers may not have needed diplomas or equivalent college degrees in the past, times are quickly changing. Law enforcement needs professionals equipped with 21st-century talents beyond traditional police academy training.

Arguments Supporting Mandatory College Education for Police Recruits

College Education Empowers Police Officers to Better Relate with Others

Better education qualifications can support the technical training that law enforcement professionals receive on the job or at the academy. Research indicates that tertiary education may improve police interrelationship skills and prepare them for their career (Edwards, 2019). In this regard, technical training and college education are crucial for the police force to effectively perform their work in the community. Higher learning offers invaluable chances to learn the work and strategies employed to tackle difficult situations. In this case, college enhances officers’ practical skills by participating in community services, internships, and even studying abroad. Traditionally, these programs linked to higher education boost moral reasoning, critical thinking, and openness to diversity. Therefore, giving a gun and a badge to young officers with a high school diploma and only a few months of technical training and sending them out to the community is not good enough. The interpersonal skills accumulated through higher education can help the police to work with groups and individuals in their professional and personal capacities. Therefore, if law enforcers go through college, they may get first-hand experience and reduce frequent complaints in the communities they serve.

Tertiary education can help foster more intercultural awareness among the police force. Thus, when the professionals in this field become more culturally sensitive, this will enable them to eradicate any bias or cultural barriers that impede their work. In this regard, years in college can assist the police in connecting and socializing with people from different cultural backgrounds. As a result, they may begin to recognize and appreciate other individuals’ values, beliefs, customs, and sexual orientations and interact with them without judgment or prejudice. One of the barriers for law enforcement agencies in effectively executing their mandate is inadequate experience with people from diverse backgrounds.

The lack of cultural competencies can inhibit the police from improving their relationships with the public and being unable to gain their trust. According to Miles-Johnson (2019), police misconduct typically transpires during engagement with public members or when deployed in high-crime areas or minority-concentrated neighborhoods, and they feel threatened by the situation. In this case, law enforcement officers may not be in a position to get help from the community to address local criminal activities. Therefore, when policing diverse people, being culturally aware can help the police build more connections and contribute to fewer interpersonal conflicts arising from cultural differences.

College education can promote better work ethics by being open to diversity. Experiences from higher learning institutions can help the police recognize how biases influence their perceptions and help them become more accommodating and respectful of people who are different or unique. Despite recent reforms, police in the United States have been reported to unfairly target people of color and ethnic minority groups when executing stop-and-search policies. Therefore, police failure to embrace diversity when performing their roles is responsible for the abuse of power and frequently observed behaviors of stereotypes and racist beliefs among law enforcement officers. Hence, as public servants, the police should continually strive to rise above personal prejudices and promote community harmony. The high education requirements may expose law enforcers to different perspectives and equip them with skills to serve everyone equitably regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, and race. Therefore, they may renounce practices that portray the profession negatively.

Higher Learning Can Assist Law Enforcement Agencies to Adopt Best Practices

Knowledge and expertise accumulated in college may be essential in helping the police become more efficient in identifying quality data and scientific evidence. In this context, post-secondary education can provide the crime squad with the tools to think scientifically. The basic principle of scientific thinking is to present learners with the necessary tools to distinguish credible information from unreliable data (Schmaltz et al., 2017). In this regard, research shows that instructors in the tertiary education program tend to prioritize scientific thinking (Schmaltz et al., 2017). This means that many police recruits who do not continue to a post-secondary level after finishing high school may not acquire this essential skill to accurately assess the world around them. Therefore, if college education is not mandatory for the police, they may not develop the specific skill sets needed to be scientifically literate and, thus, become vulnerable to biases and logical fallacies. For instance, law enforcers usually learn de-escalation strategies in their academies to reduce the use of force. However, while de-escalation techniques are essential tools at their disposal, they may not always be effective or applicable. Therefore, officers who understand scientific methods, as taught in college, are better equipped to evaluate such department policies’ and adjust them.

College-educated officers are also better imparted with various capabilities to look more professional to the public. Apart from post-secondary education assisting law enforcement officers in displaying clarity in thinking, they can also be well trained and well versed to easily use emerging artificial intelligence technologies to solve crimes. In addition, they may have a broader grasp of the criminal justice system and robust knowledge of civil rights from multiple perspectives. Therefore, tertiary education can build police officers’ overall competencies and prepare them to be more suitable for the job. This is because, in college, learners have access to nearly limitless information, which helps them to accumulate knowledge and learn best practices to build the reputation of any profession. In this case, when police officers are highly educated, they can be more disciplined and act more professionally compared to those who are uneducated. Based on a report, only 11% of college-educated police officers were involved in all disciplinary actions compared to 75% of law enforcement agents with high school diplomas (Kimberling, 2020). Therefore, a four-year tertiary education correlates with positive attitudes and good behavior, which enhances the success of police recruits.

College education training helps enhance police legitimacy through improvements in public confidence in the law enforcement department. Post-secondary education is, for example, anticipated to boost police ethical awareness and occupational culture to assist them in adapting to changes in society and in improving their professional status (Terpstra & Schaap, 2021). Therefore, as mentioned earlier, making higher education a requirement for police will give them unlimited opportunities to learn various topics, such as theories of community, diversity, and the complexities of crime causation. As a result, this will enhance the legitimacy of the profession through the accreditation of police education and training. In this case, the public will be able to have trust and confidence in their law enforcement departments. Such assurances involve the belief that the police are more professional, competent, and honest and try to perform their job effectively by protecting the community against violence and crime. Thus, higher education for police recruits, especially a bachelor’s degree, is considered significant to counter a wide range of major shortcomings of law enforcement.

College-Educated Police Are More Likely to Prevent Violence and Crime

Law enforcement officers with college degrees are less likely to engage in professional misconduct. Police personnel with lower education qualifications are more likely to use excessive and deadly force than officers with post-secondary education. A report shows that college-educated law enforcement officers are 40% less likely to resort to lethal force on the job (Mekouar, 2020). Therefore, this means the group has a minimal chance of losing their jobs due to misconduct. Police violence against civilians includes firing or pointing a gun at suspects, using verbal threats and indiscriminately punching or grabbing suspects, or hitting individuals in their custody with a baton to cause physical harm. Therefore, tertiary education helps law enforcement agencies find and learn about effective strategies and implement them when confronted with difficult situations, especially during the upsurge of racially charged incidents.

Various reports of extrajudicial killings, such as the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have triggered tension and distrust between communities and law enforcement forces. Thus, the assumption behind why police personnel with no post-secondary education may be more likely to use violence is that those with college degrees are better problem solvers. This implies that college-educated law enforcers are able to mitigate incidents with suspects amicably without resorting to physical force.

Higher education improves cognitive skills and reduces an individual’s likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors, which may decrease their chances of being violent. A study by Varela et al. (2018) indicates that school disengagement is closely linked with higher levels of violent conduct during adolescence and early adulthood. Another report shows that law enforcement personnel with at least a two-year degree are 40% less likely to be dismissed from their work due to professional misconduct (Bouffard & Armstrong, 2020). This means officers with college degrees generate fewer complaints from their departments and the public. Therefore, they are also terminated less frequently compared to their less educated counterparts for misbehavior. College-educated officers are more understanding of human behavior, are less authoritarian, and have better job performance.

Post-secondary Education Instill Police with Essential Skills and Leadership Competencies

Post-secondary education is vital in assisting the police to stay updated with the ever-changing needs of society. Boag-Munroe et al. (2017) recommend the acquisition of problem-oriented strategies as a means to enhance law enforcement capabilities to effectively execute their mandate. The traditional technical training programs may be outdated and insufficient in preparing officers to respond to emerging social problems, such as international terrorism and increased migration, as well as understand new policing laws required to effectively address these issues. In this regard, college is the only setting where learning and broadening knowledge occurs. This is because recruits will be inducted into different topics, ideas, and situations over a duration of time to become more problem-oriented in identifying crimes in the communities they serve. If a degree becomes mandatory for law enforcement, officers can easily determine the underlying causes of insecurity, develop suitable responses, and assess whether those responses work. In this case, they will have the opportunity to pursue educational backgrounds in sociology, public management, communications, psychology, government, and the natural sciences to develop new perspectives.

The accumulation of knowledge may help build effective leaders within law enforcement. This is because police academies’ inadequate focus on core competencies related to leadership, such as management and communication, are typically covered in colleges. Thus, these skills may initiate meaningful departmental reforms needed for transformational leadership. Effective governance is one of the most critical predictors of whether an institution can effectively function in a dynamic social and political environment. Therefore, police should be encouraged to make a college degree an employment requirement because they will better understand various aspects of society. For example, higher education can strengthen police officers’ leadership potential and promote them through the ranks. Research shows that law enforcement personnel with at least some higher education background are more focused on promotional advancement and aspire to retire in senior positions than those with no college degrees (Rosenfeld et al., 2020). Conversely, police who experience limited promotion prospects have a high chance of leaving the service (Boag-Munroe et al., 2017). In this case, it is not unexpected that administrators in law enforcement, including police chiefs, are likely to hold post-graduate and college degrees.

Higher Education Improves the Communication Prowess of Police Recruits

Unlike high school graduates, law enforcement personnel with a college degree often exhibit better verbal and written communication skills. Good verbal communication positively influences how police officers interact with their partners, other professionals, community members, victims, families, and court officials. Research indicates that college-educated law enforcers have impeccable listening and speaking skills, which helps them to easily build trust with people from diverse backgrounds to understand different situations (Edwards, 2019). This may assist the police in making fast and more informed decisions for the betterment of all individuals and communities involved. Additionally, improved communication skills help law enforcement forces to effectively gather evidence from crime scenes or during interrogations. For instance, an officer’s tone and body language may encourage or deter witnesses from divulging the account of events that may hasten or impede an investigation. Therefore, a college education helps police recruits acquire excellent communication abilities that foster better relations with the public resulting in information sharing, which makes inquiries easier and faster.

Good communication in law enforcement often assists in de-escalating volatile situations. Law enforcement agents with a college education have been linked to adopting less authoritative tones when interacting with the public than their counterparts. Speaking calmly in cases involving rowdy groups, protests, or other tense conditions can help the police diffuse such scenarios amicably. The use of practices, such as active listening and showing empathy, may create an atmosphere of mutual respect, which is critical in conflict management to avert further escalations. Thus, effective communication skills taught in colleges may help law enforcers learn to use conflict management strategies in solving issues rather than violence.

College-educated law enforcers demonstrate a better-written communication compared to high-school graduates. The use of simple, clear, and precise language in writing police memos and reports fosters information clarity to prevent misunderstandings (Edwards, 2019). Law enforcement agencies heavily rely on written documents; thus, well-written reports clearly show how events surrounding a particular case unfolded. Alternatively, poor reporting and documentation may cause misunderstanding and biases, impeding an investigation. Poor report-writing skills may make an officer lose their job. Therefore, a college degree may equip police recruits with the writing skills needed in the field.

Higher education equips law enforcement personnel with a unique skill set to interpret body language. Communication is not limited to verbal or written form because non-verbal cues, including facial expressions, tone, gestures, and body language, can generate different messages. Comprehending non-verbal communication may assist law enforcers in analyzing the body language of suspects or witnesses to detect any anomalies in their statements. Similarly, these cues can help officers read their partner’s body language or signals when they cannot communicate verbally in field exercises. Thus, tertiary education can expose police recruits to non-verbal communication that can aid investigations.

College Education May Improve a Recruit’s Chances for Promotion

Tertiary education can significantly boost a law enforcer’s chances of getting a promotion. Since college-educated officers have technological expertise, better leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, and are more disciplined than high school graduates, they can quickly rise through the ranks and occupy bigger positions in the force (Dowd, 2021). In addition, recruits with higher education may earn better salaries than their peers with high school diplomas (Dowd, 2021). Moreover, recruits with a college education have better job security due to their diverse skills, which are critical in law enforcement owing to the low turnover rate associated with the profession. The increased promotion opportunities, salaries, and job security may give college-educated officers increased job satisfaction compared to those with high school diplomas. As a result, the officers with tertiary education may have a positive attitude towards their work, including the communities they serve. Research indicates that individuals who are happy with their jobs have increased job performance (Kundi et al., 2020). Therefore, recruiting individuals with higher education can significantly assist law enforcement in achieving equity because they will serve the public diligently despite their race, religion, or age.

Arguments Against Mandatory College Education for Police Recruits

Requiring law enforcers to have post-secondary education is a good idea. Nevertheless, incorporating college education as a pre-employment qualification for recruits may have unintended consequences which are detrimental to police agencies. This may explain why law enforcement agencies are yet to implement the mandatory college degree as a qualification despite the public uproar. The drawbacks to mandating higher education for police recruits include the following;

College Education May Create a Workforce Shortage

Making college education compulsory for police recruits may cause a significant decline in the workforce. This is because it will limit the number of applicants joining the force, thus creating an imbalance between work responsibilities and available resources. Similarly, over the years, the number of applicants entering the police force has significantly dwindled, leaving the agencies with many vacancies. Not to mention, there are four generations in law enforcement, including the Millenials, veterans, Generation X and Baby Boomers. Some veterans, particularly the Baby Boomers, are nearing retirement, creating other vacancies (Fry, 2020). This implies that blocking high school graduates from joining law enforcement will further deteriorate the vacancy crises.

There have been increased reports of several officers quitting the force. For instance, the Police Executive Research Forum report indicates that from 2020 to 2021, officers’ resignations and retirement increased by 18% and 45%, respectively (Sutton, 2021). This was partly attributed to low pay, high-stress levels, and the public’s negative attitudes toward the police. Therefore, it is evident that the police force is already facing a workforce shortage crisis. Hence, mandating college education among the applicants may impair the agency’s operations due to the lack of an adequate workforce.

Many college graduates may prefer other careers over joining law enforcement. Only a small population of the country has four-year college degrees. In this case, in 2021, only 37.9% of individuals aged 25 years and above in the United States had a college degree (Schaeffer, 2022). Nevertheless, not many of them would choose to enter the police force. Most applicants seek to join law enforcement due to the altruistic need to serve their communities. Therefore, making college education a mandatory requirement for police recruits will significantly lower the number of applicants, resulting in a decreased workforce, thus adversely affecting the agencies’ operations. Consequently, the limited personnel may hinder the equality of police service due to the limited number of resources in the form of officers.

Mandating College Degrees for Recruits May Disadvantage Minority Groups

Making college education a requisite for joining law enforcement may limit the chances of including marginalized groups. There is already an overwhelming underrepresentation of minority ethnic communities in law enforcement (Casey-Maslen & Connolly, 2017). Hence, necessitating a college degree as a pre-employment qualification for recruits may further hinder these marginalized groups from joining the force. The requirement may create unequal opportunities for minority groups such as Hispanics and African Americans. This is because most people of color come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds and may not afford the finances to pay for a college education. For instance, in 2022, 59.1% of college graduates were White, while Latinos and African-Americans were 13.1% and 1%, respectively (Bouchrika, 2022). This proves that making post-secondary education compulsory in the police force may create inequitable chances for people of color. As a result, this will not only hinder diversity in the workforce but also cause a considerable decline in the number of officers, thus adversely affecting police operations. A lack of diverse law enforcement force may adversely impact service delivery because the officers may not adequately cater to the needs of the multi-ethnic populations.

Requiring police recruits to have higher education may significantly lower the number of women joining the force. Research indicates that only 12% of women are law enforcers (Corley, 2022). This implies that the number of women officers is too low and should be increased. Thus, mandating college education for police recruits will only place more barriers for women to enter the force. As a result, this will hinder diversity and gender inclusivity, which may impair some law enforcement operations. For instance, female victims or witnesses are more likely to cooperate and effectively communicate with female officers because they can relate to them. Therefore, requiring police officers to have tertiary education lessens the number of law enforcement women, hampering service delivery to the public.

College Degrees May Be Unnecessary in the Police Force

Mandating tertiary education among law enforcers may be unwarranted because the police academy offers preparatory and on-job-training programs to its workforce. Police training mainly revolves around safety, psychology issues, and legal procedures; it may last for six to eight months (Blumberg et al., 2019). In this case, the recruits are taught state laws, self-defense, criminal investigations, computer skills, patrol procedures, and first aid. Other topics include weapon training, defensive driving, and traffic control. The recruits must also perform physical exercise and fieldwork to demonstrate their understanding of classroom activities (Blumberg et al., 2019). The field practices may include using firearms, directing traffic, operating police vehicles, demonstrating arrest tactics and interrogation methods, and investigating mock crime scenes.

Recruit training incorporates ethical practices in law enforcement and the communication skills required in interactions with other officers and the public. For instance, the officers are trained to use de-escalation techniques, such as showing empathy when dealing with volatile situations. Additionally, police recruits are taught how and when to use force to minimize damage and guarantee public safety (Blumberg et al., 2019). Equally important, law enforcers can learn on the job through experience, making tertiary education unnecessary. This proves that police recruits already have adequate knowledge and skills to effectively perform their jobs; thus, there is no need to mandate a college degree.

Even before an individual is considered a recruit, they must undergo rigorous tests to qualify for the positions. In this case, the applicant has to perform a written test to demonstrate that they have basic knowledge critical for the profession. The exam covers problem-solving skills, mathematics, and grammar, amongst others. Additionally, applicants must pass a psychological test to portray their emotional preparedness for the job (Blumberg et al., 2019). This is because law enforcers are often exposed to highly challenging scenarios that necessitate making life-and-death choices. Furthermore, a physical ability exam is done to evaluate whether the applicant’s physical strength fits the job demand. Therefore, passing the police tests already qualifies the applicants for the profession. Hence, law enforcers do not require higher education to perform their work better because they have already demonstrated their aptitude by passing the applicant’s test.

Higher Education May Be Costly for Law Enforcement Agencies

Tertiary education may increase the salary expectations for police recruits. In any profession, individuals with advanced education status require higher pay than those with low education levels. This implies that police recruits with a college degree may be reluctant to accept the starting salary offered by law enforcement agencies. In this case, since most college graduates often have pending educational loans, officers with college degrees may require a higher income to enable them to pay such loans and manage their expenses (Dowd, 2021). Therefore, it is evident that obliging law enforcers to have higher education may result in higher salaries for the agencies.

It may be expensive for law enforcement departments to hire recruits with tertiary education. This is because the departments deal with a limited budget, and hence it may be challenging to sustain the increased salaries required by college-level recruits (Cole et al., 2018). As a result, the police agencies may only be able to recruit a slightly lower number of applicants resulting in more workload due to the limited staff. The decline may hinder equality because there are no adequate resources to meet the existing work requirements. This proves that necessitating college education for police recruits can be costly for police departments. Instead, the best solution would be hiring high school graduates and providing subsidies and other incentives to encourage them to pursue tertiary education. This approach may promote higher learning among police officers, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet society’s constantly evolving needs.

Position

Although some critics might argue that the lack of higher education for police recruits may not translate into their inability to perform their work, garnering a broad perspective on various issues is vital for any profession. Since more people are becoming very intellectual, education qualifications for the police force should also be improved. According to a report, in 2021, the number of adults 25 years and older who had completed college education or more included 46.9% men and 53.1% women (United States Census Bureau, 2022). Therefore, law enforcement operating in a well-educated society should be taught to match the people they serve. Education can help the police understand the individuals they serve and strengthen police-community relations. This is because it has been articulated that college-educated police employ less force and adhere to policing regulations for professional advancement than high school graduates. Critical thinking is one aspect associated with higher education, which allows law enforcement personnel to better understand their suspects during a confrontation and articulate practical solutions not available to their non-college-educated peers. Thus, post-secondary education for police is essential in countering a wide range of shortcomings in law enforcement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there have been repeated calls from the public requiring police recruits to have tertiary learning to meet the evolving society’s needs. College education may improve a police recruit’s problem-solving skills, technological abilities, leadership, and communication skills. All these proficiencies make police officers better equipped to serve the needs of society. In addition, due to the exposure to different cultures during college, these officers have an increased understanding of diversity, enhancing their relations with colleagues, superiors, and the public regardless of age, race, or religion. Similarly, higher education has a positive influence on law enforcers because officers with a college education are more disciplined and less likely to use violence when interacting with the public. However, some critics maintain that mandating tertiary education for recruits may be detrimental to law enforcement agencies. This is because it may result in a declining workforce and increase operations costs due to additional salaries. Additionally, it may limit minority groups’ applications to the force, thus hindering diversity. Nevertheless, college degrees should be mandated for police recruits because they offer the required skill set and abilities to solve societal problems effectively.

References

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Boag-Munroe, F., Donnelly, J., van Mechelen, D., & Elliott-Davies, M. (2017). Police officers’ promotion prospects and intention to leave the police.A Journal of Policy and Practice, 11 (2), 132-145.

Bouchrika, I. (2022). Number of college graduates: 2022 race, gender, age & state statistics. Research.

Bouffard, L. & Armstrong, G. (2020). 5 reasons police officers should have college degrees. The Conversation.

Casey-Maslen, S., & Connolly, S. (2017). Police use of force under international law. Cambridge University Press.

Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2018). The American system of criminal justice. Cengage Learning.

Corley, C. (2022). Increasing women police recruits to 30% could help change departments’ culture. NPR.

Dowd, M. (2021). Does a bachelor’s degree help you as a cop? Chron.

Edwards, B. (2019). Perceived value of higher education among police officers: Comparing county and municipal officers. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 30(4), 606-620.

Fry, R. (2020). The pace of Boomer retirements has accelerated in the past year. Pew Research Center.

Kimberling, C.R. (2020). College for cops? Studies show it helps their behavior, stress levels. The Hill.

Kundi, Y., Aboramadan, M., Elhamalawi, E., & Shahid, S. (2020). Employee psychological well-being and job performance: Exploring mediating and moderating mechanisms.International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 29(3), 736-754.

Mekouar, D. (2020). Are college-educated police officers less likely to use force?VOA.

Miles-Johnson, T. (2019). Policing diverse people: How occupational attitudes and background characteristics shape police recruits’ perceptions. SAGE Open, 9(3), 1-13.

Rosenfeld, R., Johnson, T. L., & Wright, R. (2020). Are college-educated police officers different? A study of stops, searches, and arrests.Criminal Justice Policy Review, 31(2), 206-236.

Schaeffer, K. (2022). 10 facts about today’s college graduates. Pew Research Center.

Schmaltz, R., Jansen, E., & Wenckowski, N. (2017). Redefining critical thinking: Teaching students to think like scientists.Frontiers in Psychology, 8.

Sutton, H. (2021). Survey reveals strong uptick in police retirement, resignations. Campus Security Report, 18(5), 9.

Terpstra, J., & Schaap, D. (2021). The politics of higher police education: An international comparative perspective. A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(4), 2407-2418.

United States Census Bureau. (2022). Census Bureau releases new educational attainment data.

Varela, J. J., Zimmerman, M. A., Ryan, A. M., Stoddard, S. A., & Heinze, J. E. (2021). School attachment and violent attitudes preventing future violent behavior among youth.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9-10), NP5407–NP5426.

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